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Whew - Patriots hold on

Pair of mistakes on kicks creates tense ending, but New England wins

By David Pevear, Special to The Sun

Updated:
12/13/2016 09:59:49 AM EST

Patriots running back LeGarrette Blount, left, celebrates his touchdown run with quarterback Tom Brady during the first half in Foxboro. The Patriots broke out to a big lead and held on for a 30-23 victory Monday night. AP PHOTO

FOXBORO -- As one might expect when up against the NFL's top-ranked defense, the Patriots' offensive performance was uneven -- sometimes beautiful, sometimes ugly.

With New England leading 16-0 late in the second quarter, Tom Brady threw as ugly an interception as you will ever see on a third down from the Baltimore Ravens' 2-yard line.

Then in the third quarter, the continuing misadventures of Patriots rookie returnman Cyrus Jones set Baltimore in motion to scoring two touchdowns 1:26 apart, ripping apart any emphatic statement about to be made by the Patriots.

But considering the opponent, everything is beautiful about the Patriots' 30-23 victory on Monday night at Gillette Stadium.

The Patriots had over the previous three weeks vacationed through the NFL's version of a UMass-Texas State-Fresno State cupcake stretch of their 2016 schedule (aka 49ers-Jets-Rams). The Ravens, bold and brash and unaffected by whatever Belichickian aura spooks almost every other visitor here, are seen as a legitimate threat in the AFC's big picture.

And the big picture right now shows the Patriots at 11-2, in the lead for the top seed in the AFC. The Chiefs and Raiders are 10-3. The Ravens fell to 7-6.

Baltimore, which once trailed in this game 23-3 in the third quarter, got it to 23-20 on a Justin Tucker 38-yard field goal with 6:35 left. A Rob Ninkovich sack of Joe Flacco had halted Baltimore's progress toward a go-ahead score.

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But on the first play following the ensuing kickoff, Brady hit Chris Hogan for a 79-yard touchdown. Beautiful.

Brady finished 25 of 38 for 406 yards and three touchdowns. Again, beautiful.

And the Patriots' defense played well. Special teams miscues are what made this a close game.

Once again, you just have to love Patriots-Ravens. Animosity abounds. They had not met since the 2014 AFC divisional playoff in Foxboro, won by the Patriots in a game famous for New England's ineligible/eligible receiver formations, since banned by the NFL. Ravens coach John Harbaugh seethes still over Patriots coach Bill Belichick's trickery that he thought should have been penalized at the time. Brady after that game said the Ravens needed to get a rulebook and figure it out.

The crowd in Foxboro on Monday night was especially juiced up for the Ravens. One could hear collective laughter before the first play from scrimmage when Patriots backup right tackle Cameron Fleming was announced as an eligible receiver.

Projecting what might happen in January based on a quality regular-season victory in December is an inexact science. The Ravens' reputation as a pain has been built in the postseason (2-2 versus New England). The Patriots are now 8-1 all-time versus Baltimore in the regular season.

The Patriots in this one seemed set for an early kill late in the second quarter, leading 16-0 with the ball on Baltimore's 2-yard line. Brady, under pressure, tossed up a blind third-down prayer that Baltimore safety Eric Weddle practically fair caught. Ugly.

Then in the third quarter a 23-3 game suddenly was 23-17. Jones muffed a punt, setting up the Ravens at New England's 3-yard line. After Joe Flacco hit Darren Waller for a 3-yard score, Matthew Slater fumbled the ensuing kickoff to set up an 8-yard pass from Flacco to Kenneth Dixon.

So what do you know? That boring old coaching cliche about the importance of special teams again rang true. (One might recall the Ravens lost the 2011 AFC title game here on a Billy Cundiff missed chip shot.)

Back in the first quarter, Ravens punt returner Devin Hester Sr., who had looked shaky fair-catching Ryan Allen's first punt of the game, bailed out on Allen's second punt. A diving Slater downed the ball at Baltimore's 1. On the next play, Malcom Brown tackled Dixon in the end zone for a safety.

Later in the first quarter, Patriots linebacker Shea McClellin perfectly time a running leap over Ravens long-snapper Morgan Cox to smother a 34-yard field goal attempt by Tucker.

The Patriots' offense, now on its fourth possession, suddenly clicked. The Patriots drove 74 yards in 10 plays, with LeGarrette Blount scoring on a 1-yard run to make it 9-0. It was Blount's 14th rushing touchdown of the season, tying Curtis Martin's club record (Martin did it twice).

Running back James White, lined up as a wide receiver, had a 61-yard catch and run that led to a 6-yard touchdown catch by Malcolm Mitchell, putting the Patriots up 16-0 with 9:28 left in the second quarter.

An emphatic statement seemed to be in the offing. The Patriots' eventual victory was a strong statement nonetheless.

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